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Thursday, July 19, 2012

Review: Crash Into You (Loving on the Edge #1) by Roni Loren

Sometimes the past can bring you to your knees...

Brynn LeBreck has dedicated herself to helping women in crisis, but she never imagined how personal her work would get, or where it would take her. Her younger sister is missing, suspected to be hiding from cops and criminals alike at a highly secretive BDSM retreat--a place where the elite escape to play out their most extreme sexual fantasies. To find her Brynn must go undercover as a sexual submissive.

Unfortunately, The Ranch is invitation only. And the one Master who can get her in is from the darkest corner of Brynn's past.

Brynn knows what attorney Reid Jamison is like once stripped of his conservative suit and tie. Years ago she left herself vulnerable only to have him crush her heart. Now she needs him again. Back on top. And he's all too willing to engage. But as their primal desires and old wounds are exposed, the sexual games escalate--and so does the danger. Their hearts aren't the only things at risk. Someone else is watching, playing by his own rules. And his game could be murder.

My Review:

Now that you’ve read the synopsis from Amazon.com:

Here’s what I liked about Crash Into You.

Hott, sexxy scenes.Crash Into You features light BDSM elements and a sex club called The Ranch which I really enjoyed.

Secondary Characters.Crash Into You features some secondary characters which really stole the show, in my opinion. First up was Jace. He is the owner of a sex shop and a member of The Ranch. He is Reid’s best friend and has crushed on Brynn for ten years. I loved the ménage scenes he was in.

Then there was Grant, the elusive owner of The Ranch. He is the strong and silent type. Wish there had been more of him.

Here is what I disliked about Crash Into You.

Time Element. It took me such a long time to get into this book and there were several times I thought of not finishing it because Brynn and Reid meet and fall in love, then due to a misunderstandings and them coming from different worlds, they part. Then ten years later, they find themselves working for the same company. During those ten years, they never found another partner, and they didn’t age or change one bit. It was too much to look past.

Dom? Reid has to go back to Dom Training 101. When Reid issues a command to Brynn, she always has a wise crack to say back, though Reid just laughs and attributes it to her feisty personality. *record scratch* I’m not a BDSM expert, but shouldn’t there be some sort of punishment when a command is broken? At least a spanking?

I think the only thing that would have salvaged this book for me was if at the end Brynn would take over the reins and she’d be the Dom and Reid would be the sub.

Extremes. Several storylines ran the gamut on how extreme they were from one another.

For example, Brynn’s mother was a prostitute, and perhaps this left Brynn more guarded in her relationships. Brynn had only been with one person before she met Reid, and yet she was all for BDSM kink play. There was no apprehension or easing into it – just I WANT IT. I WANT IT NOW.

Brynn had been raped and since she hadn’t gotten over it in ten years, her only solution to ‘cure’ herself was to immerse herself into a sex club (The Ranch) and submit to a stranger to see if that would do the trick. Good thing her sister was missing and the last place she was seen was at this club, or Brynn would have never been cured.

Brynn is a social worker who works on empowering women and it wasn’t until the very end when she stops feeling guilty that the only way she feels empowered is by submitting to a man (though she’s feisty, remember?)

Undercover Mission. I really wasn’t into Brynn going into the sex club in undercover mode to search for her sister. I don’t want to say, “It’s been done before,” because if I saw this in another book, I’d probably be all for it. It just made for a very uncomfortable read to see her going through her fear of being in the club due to her rape. I kept thinking, “This is not going to end well.”

Plus here is the thing – how in the world was her trip going to be undercover when EVERYONE and their mother knew what she was doing? Everyone from her co-workers at the office, and everyone she ran into on the way to the club was an acquaintance of some sort, and they were in on her trying to find her sister. It really was a bit too much. It seemed the only person in the dark was Grant, the club owner. But then at the club, Brynn tells him she’s very nervous because she was raped. He immediately sees red flags, but yet allows her to stay and share in the experience.

As you can see, the bad outweighs the good for me in Crash To You. It is the first book in the series, though I’m not sure if I will continue with it. I’m curious about Book 2 as it features Jace – a character I really liked in this book (and there’s a ménage), but I’m not going to move my TBR list anytime soon.

While Reid leaned to the side to grab the bag he had brought with him, a vinyl-clad waitress stopped in front of them. Her heavily lined eyes danced across Brynn’s two companions, her interest obvious. “Do you need anything from the bar… or from an attendant?”

Reid lifted his head, and Jace continued to caress Brynn’s leg. Reid traced a finger along the edge of Brynn’s bustier. “I think we have all we need right now.”

The girl’s bottom lip jutted out a bit, but she nodded and moved on.

Brynn sniffed. “I think you guys have a new president for your fan club.”

Reid laughed and pulled a pint-sized container from the paper bag. “We’ll see. You might want to apply for the job once we’re done with you tonight.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Confident, aren’t you?”

“Jace, I think our sub has a bit of a smart mouth.”

Jace shook his head. “Seems so. I think it’s this outfit. It’s making her feisty.”

Reid yanked at the laces holding the front of the bustier together, sending her breasts spilling out the top. She gasped and her hands instinctively flew to cover herself.

Her gaze darted around the crowded room. She had known that public display would be involved in this, but knowing it and experiencing it were two different things. A couple sitting a few yards away openly ogled the scene, and Brynn had the urge to grab the paper bag and put it over her head.

Reid’s fingers grasped her chin, and he turned her face toward him. “Look only at us. You’re here to please me and Jace—no one else gets the privilege of your attention. Now I’m giving you one more chance to drop your hands or I’m pulling out the cuffs.”

Cuffs. The word tried to slip through the hold she had on her fear. Restraints equaled panic. She stared into Reid’s eyes, feeling his grip on her face, letting his unwavering focus draw her back to center. She let her arms fall to her sides, and her nipples instantly tightened from the exposure.

This was a tough review for me. I had heard so much about this book and the author, I couldn't wait to read this book. And then I couldn't even get thru the fist chapters. I kept thinking something was wrong with me.

But yesterday I was on Goodreads, and I came across a commenter with the same complaints I had. In her review she said she was disappointed with the book because the author had posted in her blog how so many authors had gotten BDSM wrong and basically she knew the ins and outs of it. And then it clicked - Yes! I had read that same blog, too. No wonder!

Needless to say, I had Super High Expectations for this book thinking, "Wow. I'm going to get the real BDSM deal."

So in reading Brynn not acting like a submissive and Reid not acting like a Dom, it just shattered the rest of the story for me.

But who knows, they keep making more sequels to this series, so maybe she fixed things in the upcoming books? I'm ever the optimistic. :)

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